Nami's Candle
by virusofsmiles
Summary: How was 8 years old Nami going to collect 100 million beli and free her village? By throwing away her heart, that's how.
1. Chapter 1- Candle Seaweed

**Nami's Candle **

How was 8 years old Nami going to collect 100 million beli and free her village? By throwing away her heart, that's how.

* * *

**Chapter 1: Candle Seaweed**

_10 Years After THE END_

"Selling Pirate Captain Don Krieg for 19 million beli! Very cheap price for a former pirate with a 30 million beli bounty!"

Nami was not pleased by the sudden appearance of a slave auction beside the shopping mall of Sabaody Archipelago.

She was enjoying herself immensely with shopping (she had found a line of her favorite designer, the Purple Bubble), when a loud cheering of a crowd had startled her. A closer examination revealed an auction of captured pirates, and Nami sighed as she made her ways to purchase piles of the latest fashionable garments. There were few more shops in the mall that she had her sights set on, but shopping when a pirate auction was taking place in the vicinity did not rest comfortably with her pretty heart. Especially not with 16 million beli to her own head, thanks to her idiotic captain picking a fight with the World Government itself. She had almost walked past the auctioning site, when the action master noticed the 20 bags in her hands from 'Lady & Life' that practically spelt 'I-have-lots-of-money-to-spend-on-clothes-I'll-wear-just-once.'

"Young lady with beautiful orange hair! Why, I do love the color orange so. Would you like to dabble at this handsome slave who will fulfill all your biddings?"

Nami's eyebrows burrowed in frustration, and she turned her shoulders and strutted away on her magnificent silver high heels. (I am Don Kreig! Not an item to be sold! I, who commanded 50 fleets of... Arrrgh) Being beautiful was the goal in her life (aside from creating a world map), but sometimes she was just too dam beautiful.

"Speaking of orange, there was this lovely lady with a lovely garden of oranges in East Blue. Oh my, our next pirate slave is quite charming. Pardon? Your name is Nami? How strange, I once knew a Nami, the most beautiful navigator I have ever met."

Nami couldn't understand why she suddenly stopped in her tracks. It might have been the mention of the best oranges in East Blue, a navigator named Nami, or the highly energized voice that was oddly familiar.

Either way, Nami obliged to the naggings of her heart and her head raced across her shoulders to find the owner of the voice. The twenty bags of Purple Bubble collection slipped from her fingers and her honey brown eyes grew wide in shock.

"Candle?"

Her hands dashed to cover her mouth, but the name that she had held secretly in her heart broke free. And she had found him, staring back at her with the same black eyes she had remembered.

"Auction Master? How much for this Nami whore?"

The crowd grew noisy, but Candle didn't pay attention. His mind drifted back into the past, where hope had lived, and the world seemed kind.

* * *

_11 Years Ago_

_365 Days Before THE END_

"Hello Mrs. Bell-mère, We're Seaweed family. Just moved in to Niceview village, and everyone's been telling us to visit the best oranges in the world! So here we are!"

Nami squinted as her concentration broke, thanks to some random strangers from another island. She was almost finished 'The Art of Conquering Through Navigating: Without Us, You Die', but the intruders were just too loud. Behind the loud black-haired couple with spectacles, a young boy who also wore large circular spectacles stood silently. It only took a glance at the boy with the shaking of the scrawny legs and hands for the 6 years old Nami to discover that he was small in stature, and even smaller in his confidence. Wicked thoughts came to her head, and Nami smiled evilly as she jumped off the high chair (women should always be high, even with chairs - said a magazine her mother read, whatever that meant) and ran to the boy.

"Hi, I'm Nami, what's your name?"

"Candle...Candle Seaweed."

"Okay Whatever. Did you know that King Money Bunny can jump three thousand feet and swallow five hundred humans in one bite?"

Nami didn't wait for a response.

"Oh! And it was just sighted between the passage of this village and Niceview. Genzo the chief says a boy lost his arms. If you see any shadow on the path, watch out for the BITE!"

Nami brought her hands up like claws and her eyes fierce as she screamed the last word. The boy fell back and shrieked in fear.

_That's what you should get after ruining my reading time._

Pleased with her work, Nami trotted lightly back to her high chair.

* * *

"Well Thank you for your hospitality Ms. Bella! We'll Surely be back! And my, we love your hairstyle!"

The endless chatter of rather obnoxious visitors (My son got straight As in school in our previous village. Hoho! Oh your daughter is 7 years old as well?) had finally ended, and Nami smiled with delightful thoughts of quiet reading.

"Thank you, Mr. and Mrs. Seaweed, it was a pleasure. Nami! Come and say goodbye like a good girl. "

Nami sighed, then turned to answer, "Yes mother," wearing the most angelic face possible. (Oh My! Your girl is an angel!) She laughed evilly inside as she brought her book down as slowly as humanly possible.

The small black haired boy, who stood quietly after his girlishly high shriek, tapped Bell-mère and spoke to her.

"I understand why your oranges taste so good Ms. Bell-mère. "

The boy spoke, staring straight at Nami through his glasses.

"If your child is so horrible, at least your fruits should taste good. Otherwise, how can you live?"

Silence engulfed the small house full of oranges, and then Bell-mère exploded in anger as she tried to ram Candle down the wooden floor. It took both Mr. and Mrs. Seaweed to contain Bella. (I SWEAR IF I CATCH YOU MIDGET GEEK) Candle looked at Nami and stuck his tongue out; a finger stretched the skin below his eyes displaying the pink of eye socket. (YOU CALLED MY SON WHAT? HE'S JUST IN GOOD SIZE YOU BALD MANLESS WITCH)

Nami stood, frozen in shock. Nobody humiliated her like that in the verbal warfare. Only Najiko stood on even grounds, and even then Nojiko had few years. This boy was even smaller than her! Nami promised that the next time she saw this boy with black eyes, his caramel brown skin would also be covered in black. (The police chief Genzo came, but the fight went on) Nami didn't have to wait very long for vengeance however, as she would find him the very next day, in her very class of Windmill School.

* * *

"Class, this is Candle Seaweed. He's from Niceview Village, so please treat him kindly~."

Cocoyasi Village was located at the heart of Conomi Islands, and thus benefited from its location. Among other things, it was decided that the villages in vicinity would pool and invest in the best school to offer on Cocoyasi Village. Thus, children all over the neighboring villages poured down to Cocoyasi Village every sunrise for their education.

Candle looked around, and spotted the fuming orange haired girl. He smirked. Nami leaped out, lashing out her nails and the sentences she had heard her mother scream yesterday and other days.

And thus began the war that disrupted every class of 7 years olds in Windmill School. The teachers believed that this war would interrupt every moment of learning until they graduate. (Which was quite far in years)

But they were wrong.

Little did they know, of a band of fearsome fishermen known as Arlong's pirates, searching for the ideal land to conquer the 'inferior human species'. And the fact that Cocoyasi Village acted as the brain to many of the services for islands in its vicinity did not help to avoid its impending destruction.

For now though, the sun shone brilliantly on the beautiful Cocoyasi Village of East Blue, and the smell of delicious orange soup from Tangerine Grove filled every villagers with delight.

_364 Days until THE END_


	2. Chapter 2- Darkness Was Infinite

**Nami's Candle **

How was 8 years old Nami going to collect 100 million beli and free her village? By throwing away her heart, that's how.

* * *

**Chapter 2: Darkness Was Infinite**

_274 Days until THE END_

"Teacher, Nami and Candle are fighting again," Teacher Tom closed his eyes and breathed, praying for the gods to fill him with heavenly patience.

"Too bad your name Candle doesn't help you see, four eyes."

"Gosh, no wonder you're adopted."

Tom had no idea where these 7 years olds collected their insults, because they went far beyond any verbal warfare he had witnessed in his 20 years of kinder garden teaching career. (Just what kind of a 7 years old boy says Gosh?) Things turned for the worst when he invited the parents of the two troublemakers, in the hopes of raising awareness regarding the severity of the situation. (they were so noisy, they would have been kicked out of school except for their brilliant grades) Instead, the two parents encouraged their children and he suspected that some of the insults were straight from their parents. He sighed in relief as the giant yellow bell rang, signaling the end of the day and the kids of Windmill School poured out like flies for their homes.

It has been three months since Candle had joined the school, and he was not the shy boy that Nami first thought he was. He had no problem fighting with Nami verbally or physically, and made friends as easily as he breathed.

On the other hand, Nami's reputation had been poor before, as she was reported numerous times for the thefts her and her sister committed. Her popularity plummeted when she started causing numerous disruptions in class thanks to the warfare against Candle, and the entire school sided with Candle.

"Get out of my way, you poor"

Bob, the biggest kinder gardener of the school, pushed Nami down to the grass, and the rest of Bob gang snickered as they walked past her from the school.

Nami was tired of her treatment. It wasn't her fault that Bell-mère was poor and couldn't afford the entire 'Conquering Through Navigating: We Go Where I Want To Go' series. She kicked the grass and sprang onto Bob in retaliation. Unfortunately, the weight difference was a bigger factor than she thought, and she found herself on the ground after bouncing against his mountain-sized belly.

"You just tried to hit me!"

Bob uttered in shock as he had never been attacked by a fellow school mate in his life, thanks to his intimidating size.

"You hit Bob!" "You need to be punished!" "I'm ganna spank yo bum till numb"

The mob of 7 years olds gathered around fallen Nami, murmuring words they had often heard their parents say when they were in trouble.

"You're the one who pushed me first!" screamed Nami, but there was no sense in talking logic to Bob and his gang, who couldn't yet understand why adding one and one did not equal a longer one.

"Get Her!" Bob yelled, pointing his fat finger at the orange haired girl on the green grass by the road.

"What are we suppose to do?" "I don't know, but the movie I saw, they always said that"

Nami concentrated hard for her escape route while the 7 years old bullies deliberated on the concept of physical bullying. Suddenly, two boys fell down and Nami raced through the gap and past the bullies.

"Get Her!" "But she's so fast" "Yeah, you get her" "No! I'm fat! So I can't! Duh" "

Nami ran with tears clouding her vision. It just wasn't fair. It was all that Candle Seaweed's fault. The 'Le'ts Bully Nami' became a recent trend to Bob and his gang and no one, not even the school teachers, seemed to care. (Nojiko and her mother would, but Nami didn't want them to worry about it)

When Nami was out of the bullies' sight, she dropped down on the bed of sunflowers as her legs gave out in exhaustion.

"You're so dumb. Why would you fight Bob and his group by yourself?"

Nami recognized the voice, and her head jerked up, eventually finding the specks of black hair hiding deeply in the sunflowers.

"You're the one that pushed them? Why would you do that! I don't need your pity!"

Realizing that she was helped by the nemesis she was blaming, she shouted loudly at him. In truth, Nami had no idea what pity meant, but she heard Nojiko use it once when she was helped by a rich boy she didn't like. (Candle wasn't rich but it didn't really seem to matter)

"Of course not! I'm not going to give you my pity! Nobody will have my pity!"

Candle didn't know what pity meant either but he shouted back; he was sure that it was something valuable and should be kept for himself.

"But bullying is not good. My parents said so. That's why I..,"

"I found her!" "Get Her!" "You get her!" "I am! I'm running!" "Geez, I'm walking faster than you, Bob!"

Nami screamed in pain as shesuddenly felt her legs become imobile. A boy had jumped on her, landing on her legs and crushing it. Shouting at Candle must have gave her position away. Nami cursed incomprehensible words only Bell-mère understood as the rest of the gang appeared in sight. Suddenly, Candle rose from his hiding spot and yelled loudly, waving enthusiastically.

"Hello Teacher Tom!"

All heads turned in surprise, and Candle pushed the boy sitting on Nami. Nami kicked hard at the boy between his legs as she got up, and then sprinted towards Tangerine grove.

"Get her!" "You get her, I'm tired" "I'm fat! I told you!" "Guys...? I think I'm dying. She kicked my..."

After awhile, the boys were no longer in the hearing distance, and Nami drew a breath in relief as she reached back to the familiar orange orchard.

It was only then that she realized there was a boy following her, panting hard and tears dangling by his eyes.

"Four eyes, Why are you here?"

Nami squinted to show her disgust, but her words were much softer than before. It was hard to be angry at someone who had just rescued her.

"Well…I only know how to go home in one vay…and bullies were in the vay so…"

It was a known fact that Candle was directionally challenged, as he frequently got lost coming to and from school.

"Nami! You're home! I have Tangerine Soup for… and look what we have here"

Bell-mère peeped through the door, then opened it widely as she spotted the black haired boy. She cracked her fingers with evil smiles, but before she even set a foot closer Candle bursted into tears.

"Oh geez, what's wrong kid" Bell-mère spoke out of courtesy, but her tone didn't sound worried at all.

"I'm lost…aga…again. And mew dad will habe to find mew. And…and… he'll lose sleep fov he's work tomorrow"

Candle's father was a specialist in marketing, but the Conomi Islands didn't need such specific strategist for any of their businesses. So he did manual labour from early morning to late night along with his mother.

Bell-mere sighed, took a deep breath, then brought her hands on the boy's small shoulders. It was hard to be angry at a crying 7 years old, even when he was having a warfare against your child.

"It's going to be okay four ey..i mean boy. You're going to have dinner here with us, then I'll take you home. I'll call them right now so there will be no need for your daddy to lose his sleep."

* * *

"So silly, I never get lost." Nami spoke to Candle as they walked behind Bell-mere by the magnificent silver moonlight and bright yellow stars.

"How is that possible?" Candle's tears stopped after a phonecall, and after the dinner, he no longer seemed to argue back to Nami. It may have been due to the strict moral teachings from his parents that included 'being-super-polite-to-the-ones-who-feed-you'.

"Because I am a navigator, and I'm going to make the map of the world!"

Candle stared at Nami with fascination. "Really? My parents says I should be a doctor or a lawyer. But I want to be a pirate! I'll travel all around the world! Do you want to be my navigator?"

Nami stuttered her steps for a second. This was the first time someone had taken her dreams seriously, other than her mother and sister.

"Hmm… if you pay me enough"

Nami answered, following the strict guidelines from the teachings of her books.

Candle searched his pocket and offered the 1 beli he had as his daily allowance; Nami shook her head in complete rejection.

"Okay… How about with my body?"

Bell-mère who was within the earshot broke in tears, her laughter bright as the stars.

"Why would I want your body, Four eyes?"

"But you say that all the time to chief Genzo and he accepts it!"

"Well cause Genzo's weird and I'm not. Right mom?"

Bell-mere only chuckled this time as she led them by the glimmering moonlight.

Conomi island was as peaceful as it will ever be, and Bell-mère was ever greatful for it, especially after the dark experiences with the mariens.

Candle's parents were awake for Candle's arrival, and they bowed several times to Bell-mère in gratitude. Maybe they're not so bad, Bell-mere thought as she bid the Seaweed family goodnight.

"Hey Nami," Candle called Nami as she turned to leave.

"What?" Nami blurted out more rudely than she had intended, maybe because of the surprise of being called her name for the first time.

"What does… pity mean?"

"…I don't know"

* * *

_1 Day until the END_

"Candle, go get the door please"

The sun had began to retire from the sky and the wind began to feel cold when a series of desperate knocks pounded on the house of Sweaweed

Candle put down 'Navigating For Dummies : This Ain't For You' he had borrowed from Nami and trotted curiously towards the door. It was reaching supper time, and there have never been any unannounced visitors at this time before.

Much to Candle's surprise and delight, he found a puffing orange haired girl standing on the other side.

After Bell-mere had brought Candle home 9 months ago, the two families' relationship improved dramatically. They visited one another frequently, and even won the Best Neighbors Trophy one month ago from the island's Trophy Festival. Nami still made occasional pokes at Candle, mostly out of habit, but Candle made no attempts to fight back. So while it was the first time for Nami to show up past the afternoon unexpected, she was welcomed like a family.

'She gave me a totally unfashionable thing to wear...and Nojiko wore it before!"

Nami complained while stuffing down the steaming white rice and hot spicy orange soup. Nami had recently been fixated on fashion after reading 'Jobs in Navigating: Better Looking Gets Hired'.

"Nami-chan, you have to listen to your mother. She's doing what's best for you," Mrs. Seaweed tried to soften the girl full of complaints but it didn't seem to work. Instead, she quickly finished the dinner, said thank you in a gnome language she learned from her book (Navigating & Words Of Worlds), and bolted out of the cozy house mumbling "Genzo will understand"

* * *

It was couple of hours later, when the sun had almost sunk into the ocean, that Candle caught troubling news about Nami. He was taking a nightly jog by the Niceview Village square when he picked up news he couldn't fully comprehend due to how silently it was being passed around.

"I heard… she died" "Nojiko's mother?" "Nami …saw it happen" "we need to get out...,"

It wasn't just the usual bored housewives and men that were gathered. The crowd was large, and the fear and anger of the villagers were transparent even to the eyes of an 8 years old.

How could they stand and gossip when Ms. Bell-mere had passed away? Candle, in his panicked state of mind, thought that it had to do with Bell-mere's poor financial status and the troubles her household regularly caused. He even had no trouble attributing Bell-mere's sudden passing to her continuous use of cigarettes. Candle ran towards Tangerine Grove of Cocoyasi Village, ignoring the shouts of villagers pleading for him to stop. He wasn't going to let Nami and Nojiko suffer by themselves.

* * *

Mrs. Seaweed felt like her heart had exploded when the phone she had picked up announced the destruction of Arlong's Pirates and their empire dreams.

"You have to pack and leave now Mrs. Seaweed, or you'll also suffer Arlong's carnage like the poor people of Cocoyasi Village. The boat will leave in exactly one hour from now."

"But Candle is missing!"

The phone went silent and Mrs. Seaweed did her best to put the receiver back down with her trempbling arm.

"We are not abandoning our son."

Mr. Seaweed spoke firmly as he took Mrs. Seaweed by the shoulders.

"Go gather our things and I'll go find him. We'll be fine. Candie? Mom? Dad? We're moving again. Listen to Anne okay?"

Mr. Seaweed almost broke the front door as he smashed it open, and ran out into the chaos that erupted in the once-quiet-Niceview village. Screams were everywhere, and people were shouting and crying, trying to pack their entire life in a suitcase in an hour.

The stars shone brightly like always, but today they seemed rather cruel. Because the darkness was infinite, and not a single star could shed a single ray of light onto Mr. Seaweed's sinking heart.

_4 Hours Until THE END_


	3. Chapter 3- Whispers of the Darkness

**Chapter 3: Whispers of the Darkness**

_4 hours until The END_

Candle ran and ran, guided by the stars that seemed especially bright tonight. Only the thoughts of comforting Nami and Nojiko lived in his heart, and the aching of his body from non stop running was completely ignored.

As he reached the frontier of Cocoyasi Village, he heard roars of laughter, but the sounds were heavier than what any human should be able to make. Torches appeared from darkness, and through the sinister laughters, he heard a very familiar scream.

"Nami!?" Candle couldn't think anymore. His adrenaline was at its peak, and he ran towards the red flickering flames. Then he found her, her beautiful peach skin covered in brown dirt and purple bruises, and white tears rushing down from her eyes. Her wrists were chained by cruel ropes and around her stood gigantic creatures he had only seen in books.

"Let go of Nami you freaks!"

Candle shouted at the fisherman pirates, and they took notice of a small caramel boy hidden in shadows and covered in sweat. Arlong seemed to rejoice in the intruder of their celebration walk, unlike others who was annoyed by the human boy.

"Candle…? Run away! Don't come!" Nami couldn't understand why the boy was in Cocoyasi Village bridge, an hour away from his own Nicebview village, but she couldn't bear the fear of the fishermen. If they took down her mother, a former marine and the strongest woman she knew, in a flash, they would have no trouble with a small 8 years old boy. But Candle didn't run back like he was told. Instead, he picked up a stick and poised to fight for her freedom.

"Nami, you have a shining knight coming for your rescue!" Arlong spoke in ridicule then laughed with sinister eyes and even darker intent. "Now that he came uninvited to join our celebration, we should treat him right, what do you think boys?"

"Use him as a hostage for his village boss" One of the fisherman suggested and Arlong nodded in agreement.

"NO!" Nami screamed, but it was drowned by the laughter of the pirates.

"Which village are you from boy"

Arlong sized Candle and demanded with his shark eyes while staring down.

"No." Candle froze in terror as arlong's piercing eyes stunned his feet, but his mind buzzed endlessly.

"Nowhere...I'm from nowhere... I'm an orphan!"

Arlong's lip curved up in joy as his hands snatched the boy by his small neck.

"Then I guess no one will miss ya filthy human boy!"

"No!" Nami jumped on Arlong's arm and bit into his blue skin.

The shark fisherman chucked Nami away like a toy and chuckled.

"We're going to take this piece of garbage with us men. She seems to be important to our navigator-in-training so let's treat him well yeah?"

Candle felt a shuddering sensation down his spine as he get clubbed by a fisherman in his head, and fell unconscious on the muddy ground.

* * *

_Morning of The END_

"Greetings, filthy villagers of Niceview, my name is Arlong and I came here to personally congratulate your membership into my empire. Since I am kind and benevolent to unlike your species, I will charge only 100 thousand belis for adults and 50 for the kids."

Arlong and his pirates came down to Niceveiw village by the sunrise, and the sky was crimson and ominous by the time of his arrival. Bathed in crimson light, Arlong's usual blue skin looked black purple. Only the villagers who took their private boats had managed to escape. The boat that carried majority of the population was cutoff by hidden fishermen, waiting at their escape route.

Seaweed family had searched for Candle all night but couldn't find him. They were trying to think for the best, believing that either he took shelter in a neighbouring village or he escaped with the lucky ones.

Arlong snickered in triumph as he continued.

"By the way, I have found an orphan yesterday night on my walk."

One of the fishermen held up a broken body drenched in blood and mud.

"Candle! Oh My Baby!"

Mrs. Seaweed cried as the sun revealed open mouthed Candle. The glasses of his spectacles were broken, and he was missing couple of teeth along with a broken jaw.

"Ah, so someone you know? Well he used his foul mouth to turn my navigator on me."

Arlong smiled at Nami who stood by him, and the crowd gasped in surprise at the sudden reveal. Mrs. Seaweed fell to the floor losing her concious.

"You may buy his life for five times the price: 200 thousand beris!"

Mr. Seaweed screamed in rage as he charged at Arlong. He was easily rammed to the floor by a black haired fishermen and put into a chokehold.

"First attack, I'll give you grace. Second is death."

Arlong spoke coldly, looking down at his attacker.

The villagers murmured but avoided any of Seaweed family's gaze. They all pitied, but no one had 250 million belis to cover for Candle, .

Candle shook in shock. The fisherman kept tapping at his gun, grinning widely at him.

"We have the money. Spare our grandson. We don't have the money for our selves though." Soft and slow voice broke the silence, and the crowd made way for two Seaweed elders.

"Grandpa! Grandma!" Candle broke free and ran into the arms of his grandparents.

"So you're saying there's no money for you two old. Farts?"

"That's right" Mrs. Elder Seaweed smiled.

"Don't cry now candle. You're looking ugly with those snots all over you" Mrs. Elder Seaweed brought her hands and gently wiped Candle's nose.

"Blah blah blah, you take too long"

A gunshot deafened the ears, then the lifeless body of Mrs. Elder Seaweed fell on the floor.

Before the crowd had time to react to the horror, another gunshot dropped Mr. Elder Seaweed on the floor. Candle frantically shouted for help, trying to plug the holes in his grandparents' heads.

"Don't you dare touch my navigator" Arlong laughed as the whole village mourned. "I don't even want to be part of you murderers." Nami shouted in disgust and tears as she tried to scratch every fishermen around her.

"And who will take your side?"

Arlong whispered in Nami's ears, and Nami froze at the sight of Niceview villagers. In front of the crushing strength of the savage pirates, all the villagers dodged Nami's eyes. Predicament was clear. Ignore the orange hair girl unless you wanted to pay with blood and tears.

* * *

"You're a murderer"

Mr. Seaweed venomously spat every word to eight years old Candle, who came up to his hips.

"You killed your grandfather, grandmother. You filthy murderer!"

A glass cup flew by candle and shattered in pieces by the wall behind him.

"If you hadn't gone for that miserable orphan girl, they would still be here!"

Mrs. Seaweed sat silently beside her husband, hands folded. Little Candie hid in his room and sobbed quietly.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry dad."

Candle cried and begged for mercy at the feet but he was shrugged of like garbage.

"Do you know why we moved here? So your grandparents could enjoy comfortable noiseless life! Not for you, not for me, for them!"

Mr. Seaweed screamed at the shacking boy, then smashed another glass of bottle by the wall.

"All I asked from you was to study a little and please them! Was that so hard? Was that so hard you heartless murderer?"

Every word cut candle like a knife but Mr. Seaweed didn't stop.

"Get out of my house. Criminals are unwanted here."

Mr. Seaweed grabbed Candle then kicked open the door, and tossed him on the other side of it. Then the door slammed on the little boy and the thundering weather.

* * *

Genzo, the police cheif's veins nearly popped as he found another child knocking by his door. Ever since Arlong's conquest, there have been casualties, mainly to demonstrate his power over their lives. And he had been accepting orphans into his home.

"My parents... When they said they wouldn't hand over a penny to the pirates...they just shot them...My Parents!"

Bob was in tears as he wailed with his story, and he almost choked on his own tears.

"They are the richest of Fatview village, and just shot them..."

Bob's eyes spaced out, and he kept mumbling 'Shot them' over and over again. Genzo was the police chief of Cocoyasi Village, but his house was rather modest. Now, it was proving to be to small to serve as an orphanage.

Under Arlong's control, meetings between villagers became closely monitored. But after witnessing the killing of Bell-mere, every Cocoyasi villagers felt vengeance fuel their wounded hearts. The kidnapping of Nami even after the payment with Bell-mere's life was the boiling point. The villagers held a secret meeting that very night. Under the crusade for Nami, they devised plans of rebellion that may even call the entire island to arms.

* * *

Candle pulled himself up from the floor of Genzo's house, dodged Bob and other orphans who have been fighting for spaces in the tight living room, and staggered into the kitchen. He fingered for the knife he had eyed earlier on in the day. His fingers recognized the hilt, and he drew it from the cutting board. Candle didn't hesitate. He pressed it by his wrist, then dragged it deeply across his veins. He dropped the knife as he felt the warm liquid drip down his elbow. His legs gave in and his head hung back, leaning against the kitchen cabinet. Suddenly, Candle realized that his eyelids became extremely heavy to hold, and he didn't resist its fall. The moon shone brilliantly like always, but the light didn't reach Candle beneath the cabinet under the window. And Candle drifted away, by the whispers of the darkness.

_The END_


End file.
